1. Field Of The Invention
The present invention relates generally to skylight technology including skylight assemblies having a swinging window unit, a box-like liner, and a flashing frame, operable to open and close while maintaining a weatherproof and leak proof structure, and which can be manufactured at low cost, yet remain dependable and easy to use over a prolonged period of time. But more particularly, the present invention relates to insulated glass skylight assemblies that have superior insulation properties and provide a maximum light transmission area utilizing minimum outer encasing frame dimensions, while inhering features of easy manufacture and assembly, low mass, increased rigidity and enhanced appearance.
2. Setting For The Invention
The art is replete with skylight technology of various types and designs that have been adapted to many environments, for example, roof structures of buildings and vehicles. Certain designs are permanently sealed and others are designed to be opened and closed as desired for ventilation purposes. Skylight assemblies are normally designed to be permanently mounted in a roof structure. They must be versatile and easy to install in a finished roof whether it be as part of initial construction or in an existing roof. Cost is virtually always a factor that is given careful consideration.
Recent successful skylight designs of the type under consideration are disclosed in prior U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,875,710, 3,093,613, 4,408,422 and 4,441,284. A consideration of these four (4) disclosures show the manner in which skylight designs have progressed over the past 20 years. The present invention represents desirable modifications in a similar type of structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,441,284 to Bechtold discloses a double dome skylight assembly, having a maximum degree of dome separation, particularly at the edges, in order to create a more uniform insulating condition. Therein, it is believed that a 3/4 inch optimal separation should be maintained between the domes throughout the spaced adjacent dome surfaces. This spacing served to avoid potential "cob web" type condensation which forms at the edges of the domes when they are spaced too closely together. In this connection, double dome skylight assemblies and constructions of this sort employ plastic materials to form the domes. However, in many applications, there is a need for glass panels as well.
There has therefore been a desire to provide skylight assemblies having window structures made of glass, while at the same time, obtaining the advantages of the insulative properties of double-dome plastic skylight assemblies. Accordingly, prior art has taught the use of two panes of glass in a skylight assembly, but such constructions have been fraught with problems. One major problem has been with the sealings around the window structures, especially since water has a tendency to collect at the lower end of flat glass structures disposed at inclines. Often, water penetrates through the seals and collects within the swinging window unit. Moreover, the manufacture of such double glass skylight assemblies has been difficult, since it has been the convention to first manufacture a double window structure, and then, to incorporate such window structure into a substantially larger frame of a skylight assembly. In addition to this additional step in the manufacturing process and its resulting cost, this has resulted in minimizing the amount of glass overlying the opening in the roof structure, and yielding skylight assemblies with excessive exterior dimensions. Notably, this has also resulted in additional weight, greater overall size, and increased difficulty in assembly.
Other problems arising a convection with prior art skylight assemblies, include physical distortion of support frames when exposed to torsional forces occasioned by natural elements such as wind.
Another problem that often arises in connection with prior art skylight assemblies, involves the penetration of water past the window seals and the collection thereof within the structural elements of the skylight assembly itself. In temperatures below 0.degree. Celsius, freezing of such collected water can cause serious damage to the structure of the skylight assembly, and in temperatures above freezing, such collected water may penetrate past other seals resulting in water damage to the interior of the house into whose roof structure the prior art skylight assembly is installed.
An even further problem in connection with prior art skylight assemblies, involves rain water striking the outer encasing of the skylight assembly, and dripping onto and moving towards other structural elements thereof rather than flowing away from the skylight assembly, as would be desired.